When Hacking Goes Awry
by Mycha
Summary: Take a computer genius, add some boredom, and computer hacking is bound to ensue. Well, at least if you are Michael Lee, it is, and the results aren't always good...


Disclaimer: I don't own or claim to own Witch Hunter Robin, I just like borrowing the characters.

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Author's note: There is a place where a character speaks broken English and it is written as I would think it would be said. It is not intended in any way, shape or form to be insulting. Just wanted to forewarn anyone who might be sensitive to that kind of thing.

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"Woah, what's this?" he asked himself quietly, musing this strange find. The young man sat back, absentmindedly running his hand through his mousy brown hair. Michael glanced at the clock. It was still early - only about midnight. He had plenty of time.

Debating whether to follow the link or not, he wandered over to his refrigerator. Grabbing a soda, he glanced back at the bluish glow of his monitor. Michael had arrived a few weeks prior from America for a foreign studies program. He no longer wanted to play tourist but classes hadn't started yet so he still hadn't met anyone to hang out with. Out of boredom, the introvert had broken into the Japanese Police computer network.

The young hacker hadn't expected to find anything particularly interesting. He simply knew from previous experience that the police had almost no security mechanisms in place. In actuality, he had half-heartedly hoped to get an idea of some other network to wander through. Michael had been hacking computers since he was a kid, so he rarely found systems that proved to be truly difficult to break into. That said, he still enjoyed looking through different networks to find interesting tid-bits of information.

Nodding to himself, obviously having come to some decision, he grabbed a few more sodas and a bag of cookies before crossing the small apartment and plopping down in his chair again. The temptation was just too great. He had stumbled across a hidden file that proved to be a back door for another hacker. What had piqued his interest was how it had been set up. The other hacker was likely paranoid that someone would backtrace the file to himself based on how much security surrounded the hook. The precautions, though, were rather primitive and the person hadn't been erasing all of their tracks. Based on the log files, Michael was pretty sure that the person was logging in several times a day.

"Might as well!" he cheerily exclaimed to himself, cracking his knuckles and stretching his arms before turning his attention to back-tracing the door.

Nudging the volume up on his radio, he got lost in his own little world as he found himself wandering through some other corporate network. The security was spotty throughout, causing the otherwise quiet geek to chuckle occasionally. Then he ran into the database. Unlike the rest of the system, this actually had multiple layers of security and encryption that proved to be challenging. After several minutes he was in. A quick query showed that it was huge. As Michael started to peruse the database, his jaw dropped. At first glance, he thought he had run into a huge genealogy database. Reading some of the details, though, he realized that this was **much** more. Each person seemed to have a list of unbelievable abilities – telekinesis, telepathy, aerokinesis, the list kept going.

Michael glanced at his clock again, startled to find he'd been in the database for over an hour. Vowing to himself that he would definitely be back, he quickly began erasing his trail and backing out of the system.

&

"What do you mean 'Someone got in'?" the greying man snarled rhetorically at his cowering IT guy. The older man paced back and forth, angrily puffing away at his cigar.

At the sound of the office door opening, both men turned to see a dark, imposing man silently enter and move to stand in the corner of the room. Shuddering, the employee turned back to his irate boss.

"So, Haru. How much of the database did the intruder get?" Zaizen sneered before taking another long drag on his cigar. He stopped pacing and sat on the edge of his desk, glaring at his subordinate.

"N.. n.. not much... I don't think," the terrified young man stammered, trying desperately not to think about the man in black standing watch behind him. "I've already traced the intruder," Haru continued, nervously becoming animated in his effort to placate the men.

"Really? Show me," Zaizen snidely commanded standing aside to allow the younger man to use his computer. After a few clicks, he had pulled up the information.

"I only have the address, so far. The apartment complex mostly houses university students." The IT guy looked up at his boss anxiously before continuing. "I can likely have all the info on him within about 24 hours."

Slowly Zaizen smiled. "Good job. I knew this would all work out." Almost imperceptibly, the administrator glanced at the imposing figure still standing at the back of the room and gave a quick nod.

"So, then... I guess I'd better get back to finding out who this guy is." Haru laughed nervously as he began to back away.

A heavy, black-gloved hand stopped his retreat just before a loud crack disturbed the silence. A moment or two later a soft thud was heard as the former employee's dead body fell to the floor.

&

Michael casually looked around the patio for an empty table. It was a beautiful day. Obviously, based on the number of people outside, he wasn't the only one to think so. Finally, he spotted one off to the side and carefully picked his way over.

The cafe was just across from his apartment. Michael had made a habit of eating and people watching there in the mornings while he caught up with his friends back in America. The waitress smiled when she saw him and pointed to the coffee pot in her hand. Acknowledging the silent question, the young hacker nodded his head, beaming at the girl.

"Excuse me. Mind if I join you?"

Michael looked up at the sound of the man's voice. "Uh... yeah, sure," he replied as the dark, foreboding man was already sitting down. He didn't really want to share the table but figured it was the polite thing to do, given the lack of them that morning.

What he **really** wanted to do was figure out what had happened the night before. Everything had seemed fine, but when he tried to close the log files, the system wouldn't let him exit. He couldn't figure it out – he simply could not erase his tracks. When he gave up on that and simply tried to log out, he couldn't. Panic had started to set in. He had been in the system far longer than was wise when his computer suddenly rebooted.

From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the other man who seemed to be playing with a strange looking phone.

"Good morning, Michael-san!" Arissa bubbled in broken English as she sat his coffee in front of him. "You have guest today. Is he friend?"

Michael smiled at the petite young woman before speaking. "No, just someone who needed a seat." A puzzled look crossed her face before she smiled again.

"Your Japanese worse than my English," she giggled before correcting him. Neither noticed the strange look from the other man as they bantered a bit – Michael in Japanese, Arissa in English.

"Want your normal?" the bouncy girl finally asked Michael, getting back to the task at hand. He nodded. "And you, not friend of Michael's?" she continued, looking at the stoic man at the table.

"Coffee," he bluntly replied in perfect Japanese.

Arissa blushed, apologizing for her rudeness. The man ignored her and picked up a newspaper to read.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that," Michael began, sticking with English. "I guess she didn't realize that I really don't know you."

The man merely shrugged, seemingly engrossed in the paper. After a few minutes, the hacker decided that the intruder wasn't worth worrying about. Pulling his laptop out, he figured he could go ahead and look at his logs from the previous night and figure out what had gone wrong.

"Michael, did you go hacking last night?" Arissa asked, leaning over his shoulder to see what he was doing.

Michael blushed, more because of the girl's proximity than because she knew what he was doing. The two of them talked computers enough when she got off work that he knew she was no stranger to the activity.

"Yeah."

"Anything interesting?"

Michael thought a moment before deciding to talk. "You should have seen this place!" he began, excited to share his find with someone. "The database I found was amazing! And their security! Oh my God! It was a royal pain to get into, but it was **so** worth it. But somehow I screwed up. I couldn't get out. I don't know what happened."

Arissa laughed. "What? The great Michael found a system that he couldn't crack?" she teased. "So what was there?"

"You truly wouldn't believe me if I told you. I'll have to show you after I figure out what went wrong."

As the two continued talking about their hacking escapades, neither of them noticed the other man at the table listening intently to them.

&

After pouring over his logs all day, Michael thought he knew what he had done wrong the previous night. He knew that it wasn't likely a good idea to return to the database so soon, but his curiosity was proving to be too much. Within a few short minutes he was in and had his own safety mechanisms in place.

Tonight, instead of just wandering through the database, he was going to actually download some of the records. He was almost giddy with excitement. If he had really found a database connecting people to these super hero powers... well, that was just too cool for words, not to mention that it would provide him with months of research to follow up on.

&

Amon sat patiently in his car, about a block from the cafe. He had been able to see enough of the boy's records earlier to know that the young American was his target, now he just needed to get the kid. The stoic hunter had already done his homework and knew that the hacker wasn't a witch. That was a good thing in his eyes. It meant that he could leave his fellow hunters out of the loop on this one. He always hated to get them involved in the more questionable jobs that their boss came up with.

Ziazen had originally wanted the youth shot, but now that their resident IT person was dead, Amon had convinced him that it might be wise to offer this kid the job. He had, after all, been able to break in. The administrator had agreed that it was a good idea, but still wanted to scare the boy. Amon found it more than slightly annoying since it meant that he had to take backup for something that would otherwise be a quick job for him.

After a few taps on his computer, the stolid hunter was connected to the American hacker's computer. Confirming that the boy was on line, he smirked slightly when he realized that Michael was actually back in the STN-J database. He picked up his communicator and made the call.

&

The noise was deafening as Michael's front door was broken down. Without time to even react, the young man was surrounded by heavily armored men who where shouting at him in Japanese. Not sure what was going on, or why they were here, he put his hands on his head and attempted to stay calm. Try as he might, he couldn't decipher what they were saying too him.

The frightened teen was surprised when a dark man stalked out of the shadows of his apartment, his presence alone silencing the yells of what Michael presumed to be the police. He sighed with relief as he realized that the man in black had been the same man who had been at his table that morning at the cafe.

"Hey, man, what is..." Michael started, relief melting into fear as the man fluidly pulled a gun out of his coat and aimed it right at his head.

"You trespassed where you shouldn't have, now you have a choice to make. You can die right here, or you can work for the organization whose data you stole. In exchange for your life, though, you will be owned by the organization," Amon stated impassively.

"I'm not sure I understand..." the boy whispered, hesitantly.

The foreboding man didn't say anything else. He just waited while the teen processed what had been said. When the confusion didn't leave his face, Amon continued.

"You will work, live and breath the organization. You will do what you are told. If you don't, you will likely be killed." Amon honestly didn't know what Zaizen had planned for the youth, but he knew that much from how the administrator had treated the previous computer technician.

Michael visibly wrestled with the idea for a few moments. Growing impatient, Amon cocked his gun, the sound of which startled the hacker back to the present. Eyes wide in fear, he quickly stammered, "I'd rather live."

Amon gave a curt nod before hitting the teen upside his head with his gun. "Welcome to the STN-J," the hunter muttered catching the unconscious boy before he fell to the ground and throwing him over his shoulder as he walked out the door.

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Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think. )


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